Sarah’s Health Notes: Keep off the long grass!
Lyme disease has seriously affected several people I know and I urge you to be alert. This infectious disease is usually due to being bitten by a tick infected with a bacterium called Borrelia burgdorferi. It can cause chronic ill health affecting the whole body and sometimes the brain. According to Public Health England, the condition is now endemic throughout most of the UK, in urban parks as well as the countryside.
I know it’s tempting to stroll out in shorts but if you are going anywhere near long grass, please think again. You can reduce the risk by wearing long-sleeved tops and trousers and, where possible, keeping to paths with closely mown verges, advises the charity Lyme Disease Action.
Check regularly for ticks on clothing and brush them off before they can bite. Also check folds in the skin, behind the knee and in the groin, where the pesky insects may hide.
Insect repellents containing deet may deter ticks but can cause adverse reactions in some people. If you find a tick, use a proprietary removal tool (from £5.50/lymediseaseaction. org.uk). Please don’t pick it off with your fingers as I used to do with my horses before I learned the risks of infection.
Two out of three infected people show a roughly circular red rash, often called a bull’s eye rash, which can develop two to 30 days after being bitten. Other most common early indications in adults are flu-like symptoms such as aching, fever, headache and sweating; sensitivity to light and sound; stiff neck; joint pain; fatigue; skin tingling, numbness or itching. In children, a headache and fever with loss of facial movement suggest infection.
If you notice symptoms, go to a GP without delay. Rarely treatment with antibiotics may stop the disease. Blood tests plus clinical history are the basis for a diagnosis but anyone with a bull’s eye rash should be treated immediately.
Lyme Disease Action cautions that many GPs may be unfamiliar with the disease but Public Health England has now published Lyme Disease: Signs and Symptoms and NICE offers Information for medical professionals on the diagnosis and management of Lyme disease:
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More detailed information for patients can be found on the NHS Choices website here.
PHE information leaflets on preventing tick bites and removing ticks here.
